Michele Bachmann’s Recommended Reading

What author wouldn’t cherish a plug of his book by an attractive, poised public speaker who really knows how to excite and inspire a crowd?

And we don’t mean President Barack Obama citing “The Defining Moment,” Jonathan Alter’s book on FDR. This was Rep. Michele Bachmann, revving up CPAC with a speech that wound up quoting, um, liberally from “We Still Hold These Truths,” Heritage scholar Matthew Spalding’s book on America’s founding principles.

The Minnesota Republican, as this clip shows, apparently likes how Spalding describes a very different defining moment: the choice Americans face between continuing down the road to centralized government and decline or the road back to limited government and greatness.

Bachmann, speaking Friday, not only gave props to Spalding by noting both his book’s title and his affiliation with Heritage. She then quoted two key anecdotes pulled from the book to illustrate what truths motivated men and women in 1776 to risk all in seeking independence from Great Britain.

When she was done, FrumForum.com’s live-blogger Tim Mak gave an A to the history lesson from “Professor Bachmann,” gushing:

Surprising amount of genuine feeling, passionate story-telling by Michele Bachmann, and on interesting topics. Given my low expectations going into the speech, I was actually impressed!”

Citing Spalding’s book, Bachmann also quoted a speech by Dr. Joseph Warren in Boston on March 6, 1775, in the aftermath of the Boston Massacre. The congresswoman found her four-word closing exhortation in Spalding’s excerpt from Warren:

Our country is in danger, but not to be despaired of. Our enemies are numerous and powerful; but we have many friends, determining to be free, and heaven and earth will aid the resolution. On you depend the fortunes of America. You are to decide the important question, on which rest the happiness and liberty of millions yet unborn. Act worthy of yourselves.”

The plug from Bachmann followed two other good notices for “We Still Hold These Truths” this month in major reviews in The Weekly Standard and National Review. Not to mention Spalding’s own piece in NR on the opening for conservatives created by the Left’s overreach.

Spalding, director of Heritage’s B. Kenneth Simon Center for American Studies, also spoke at CPAC on a panel that tackled the topic “Saving Freedom: Defending the Constitution.” His upcoming travel to talk about the resilience of founding principles includes a stop March 3 in Chapel Hill, N.C. He’ll help Heritage President Ed Feulner launch this organization’s 13th regional arm—the North Carolina Committee for Heritage.

Go here to see Bachmann’s entire speech, or the rest of her reading from the Spalding book (final seven minutes).

Ken McIntyre, a 30-year veteran of national and local newspapers, serves as chief political correspondent at The Daily Signal and The Heritage Foundation's Marilyn and Fred Guardabassi Fellow in Media and Public Policy Studies. Send an email to Ken.

Join The Discussion

Production is in the system. We have a management problem. We need to change or evolve the system to a more efficient and effective system.

Work for term limits. The most efficient and effective way to evolve our government to a government of the people, by the people and for the people. Even the super wealthy "powers that be" will be better off.

You, your family, your friends, your countrymen will be better off with one term representation.

Think about this. Are 80% or 70% or even 60% of the people around you incapable of working for reasonable compromise for the common good? If the majority are good people, which you and I believe, then we need to change the human management system of unlimited terms to one 6 year or a 4 year term.

Until we get a term limits constitutional amendment it is in our enlightened self-interest to vote for the most quaified of the newest persons running for office who has not been in office before and for women candidates over men candidates. At the very least new reprentatives are less adept at corruption and women are less corruptable and more objective then men partly because they know what it is like to be a second class citizen.

Michele makes an excellent point about fighting for Freedom. I believe that the healthcare bill is more about our losing some of our Freedom due to excess government control that it is about healthcare. The healthcare issue is more like a Trojan Horse, I wish more people could see that.

Why do you use video clips from "MOXNEWS"? I just watched your clip of Michele Bachmann, who I think is great, but saw it was from CSPAN, then posted by MOXNEWS.COM….seems they always do their best to make conservatives look bad. Notice the shot that they chose of the audience, they focused on the few people that were not showing much interest in her speech. Am I the only one that feels this is a problem???

The Obama Healthcare proposal is going to be another government boondoggle that wastes Trillions of dollars and is an unnecessary liberty stealing attack on our Country and beloved Constitution. The entire process of shoving the Obama Healthcare package down our collective throats has been CORRUPTION and DECEIT at its worst. How do these corrupt government types get any sleep at night…? They must be the worst of the worst…with leaders such as these are we doomed as a country and a people??? Perhaps, unless we vote them out of office!!

MICHELE BACHMAN, SARAH PALIN, GLEN BECK AND RUSH LIMBAUGH ARE THE GREATEST AMERICANS EVER!! THAY ARE GREATER THAN THE POPE. THAY ARE BRINGING BACK WHITE CHRISTIAN AMERICA AND THE HOLYNESS OF THE FLAG..AYN RAND IS RIGHT . I SHOULDNT HAVE THE GOVERMENT TELLING ME IAM A PUBLIC SERVENT SO I SHOULD GET PAID LESS. WHEN WE PUT OUT A BIG FIRE WE SHOULD GET PAYED MORE. WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO CHARGE WHAT WE WANT AND LET THE MARKET WORK IT OUT. VOTE REPUBLICAN OR TEA PARTY AND FORGET SOLAR WIND WOMENS LIB CRAP. I WILL TAKE BIG BUSINESS OVER THE AMERICAN GOVERMENT ANY DAY. WATCH FOX NEWS NOT THOSE JEW NEWS CHANNELS.

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